A Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI)-led partnership that supports young families experiencing financial hardship has received funding.
Dr Anna Price and the team behind the Healthier Wealthier Families (HWF) initiative have been awarded a Paul Ramsay Foundation (PRF) Experimental Evaluation grant to launch the collaborative program in two regions in Queensland.
The pilot has been adapted from a successful initiative in Glasgow, Scotland and has been trialled in Melbourne's outer suburbs. Initial evaluations found that HWF provided practical solutions to financial hardship through targeted counselling, which empowered caregivers and increased family income by 12.5 per cent ($6,504) annually.
Dr Price said the pilot would help support the one in three Australian families raising children who couldn't afford essentials like food, rent or healthcare.
Image: Dr Anna Price
"Material deprivation is a serious issue and can greatly impact the home environment and the mental health of parents and carers," she said. The HWF program is designed to better link health and social sectors to work in tandem towards improving the health and wellbeing of young children and their carers in Queensland."
Dr Price said the initiative could also help community and government agencies address the increasing cost of living.
"Our initial HWF program improved the financial wellbeing of parents and caregivers who may not have otherwise had access to this support," she said. This is increasingly important given the cost of living pressures.
"We are excited that this pilot will be offered to more families and we're hoping this evaluation will see it become a sustainable statewide or national program."
Researchers and staff from Queensland Health, UnitingCare Queensland and Western Sydney University will contribute to the study as key partners.
